


Luring old devastations

by Surisun



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: AU, Care and support, Crying, Dark Thoughts, Emotionally Hurt Stiles Stilinski, Fixing old problems, Friendship, Gen, Grandparents & Grandchildren, Hurt Stiles, Mentions of Cancer, Nightmares, Panic Attacks, Parent-Child Relationship, Self-Acceptance, Sheriff Stilinski Dies, Sick Stiles Stilinski, Stiles being called Genim
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-18
Updated: 2016-07-18
Packaged: 2018-07-24 09:31:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7503147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Surisun/pseuds/Surisun
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What's life?<br/>It's the magical combination of the past ,the present and the future..</p><p>But Stiles didn't understand his past or choose his present and he certainly had no control on his future. .<br/>So what kind of life that gives him?<br/>Well, not a pretty good one for sure..</p><p>He is stuck between old pains and new ones with no choice but to fight, but what can a lonely, scared kid possibly achieve when life seems to fall apart around him ?<br/>Will his luck is ever going to change? </p><p> OR The story in which Stiles finds out that his family has a hidden secret , only for this secret to come to life and starts to chase him.<br/>Now, he has to live with the grandparents who abondened his mom and hated his dad .<br/>He leaves his town and his freinds behind to  make new friends ,finds love and even beats his own weakness in the most unexpected ways,<br/>But is it enough?<br/>Can Stiles make peace with the past and have a future?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Luring old devastations

**Author's Note:**

> hi there,  
> I know it had been a while since I updated any of my works ..and I know that this not cool at all..really but I still have exams and I am so mesrible right now, so ...  
> I decided to write a new story!  
> But to avoid my previous mistakes I also decided to make it one seriously long story rather than breaking it into chapters, because I don't know when I'll be updating next and I have enough unfinished stories already.  
> I hope it was the right thing to do ,though, I mean I love the plot and the the way that the characters developed and I hope you do too  
> *so now,I will let yout go and I hope you have a great time reading and don't forget to grace me with your feedback. .

People aren't either wicked or noble. They're like chef's salads, with good things and bad things chopped and mixed together in a vinaigrette of confusion and conflict. . ................................

 

The first time Stiles asked his mom why dose not he have a grandma and a grandpa like the other kids in his kindergarten, his mom had a sad expression on her face and she didn't answer.

  
sometimes, she does this , she frowns and goes quiet when he asks her about some stuffs ,or says something unexpected . In the 8 years of his life with his mom , before she got sick, Stiles learned to respect these moments and never repeats these questions, even when he knew that there must be some reason behind his mom deep sadness. .

  
.................

  
The next time he had ever wondered about his grandparents, was when he was twelve.  
Few days before Christmas, he was looking for last year decorations in the old dusty boxes in their attic when he found a picture that he had never seen before.

  
His mom looked young ,probably few years older than himself, with long brown silky hair and short sleeves ivory white dress, sitting on a fancy sofa between a man with a gray heir and sharp features on her right and a short golden brown hair woman on her left , they were both wearing elegant suits and serious expressions , and Stiles wondered why would someone look so reluctant to take such a beautiful picture. .

  
Losing his previous intrest in finding the Christmas decorations, Stiles ran down the stairs manically, holding the precious treasure he found, and waited for his dad to come home and solve the mystery of the picture.

  
The next thing he knew, he was tucked up in his bed and the sun was up in the sky ..  
He most fell asleep the last night and his dad probably carried him to bed !!  
Going down for breakfasthe when his stomach rumpled, Stiles had temporarily forgot about the picture till he catched his dad holding it roughly like he is torn between crushing it or throwing it away. His eyes were shooting invesible fire toward the printed faces, and his fist was reflexing in so much pain and anger ,

  
" Dad?" he called slowly, taken back by the weird look on his father's face ,

  
John didn't appear to hear him. .  
" Dad? "  
He repeated again, slightly scared by the lack of reaction. .  
" Dad?! Are you alright? "

  
His dad didn't answer till Stiles gently put his hand on his dad's arm making John snap back to reality,  
" Stiles, when did you wake? I didn't hear you .."  
" is everything alright dad? "

  
His dad looked at him for a moment before he looked back to the photo in his hand , then he took a deep breath, noded , and shoved it into his pocket,  
" you must be hungry kiddo, let's make you some breakfast "

  
Dad was about to stand up and head to the kitchen when he grasped his sleeve,  
" Dad? Are those people in the photo are my grandparents? "

  
John stoped dead in his track and looked at him , struggling with an answer ,  
Stiles didn't give him a chance, he was grinning a little and jumping excitedly ,with absolutely no clue about how his dad really felt,  
" they are , aren't they? Why didn't I ever meet them ? Where do they live? How come they never call or send a postcard? Why did ..."

" Stop it Stiles! !" His dad shouted ,effectively silencing him,  
"Stop it right now" John neck veins were bulging with his apparent strain to control himself,  
"Listen to me , those people are not your grandparents, they had never been your grandparents!!"  
" but dad.."  
" NO ! Those are bad people, Stiles, they throw your mom out when she choose to follow her heart and marry the man she loved "  
Stiles stared at him confused but John kept speaking between gritted teeth,  
" they are selfish jerks who choose money and family name over their own daughter, and I don't want you anywhere near those bastards , I don't want you to even think about them again, do you hear me Stiles? !"

  
" y-yeah dad" He stuttered ,

  
Nothing else has been said about this ,  
He never dared to ask his dad about this picture that he once had found ..

  
..........................

  
But again, It's nothing like Stiles to ignore the itch under his skin and get over his curiosity even if he tried, so he went back to the old boxes to fetch his mom's median name from the old yellow papers ,

  
Old papers that were well hidden, and he doubted that his dad knew anything about them.

  
Next ,He wasted no time ,running to the library and surfing every article on the Internet about "The Grants", his mother's parents , who turned out to be one of the most polished names in the feild of export and international shipping among the country, a corner stone in the American economy to say at least as their estimated fortune was billions of dollars, and their company branches were all over the US.  
which meant that his mother had grown up rich and was spoiled with money and fame..

And Wow,!! this was really big deal !how come no one had ever told him ?!!

It was obvious that there is some kind of rooted dispute between his parents and the Grants,but he couldn't put his finger on anything, there wasn't a single clue! .what ,on earth, would've happened to leave this kind of knowledge behind?

Especially when his mom was sick and his dad was working double shifts to cover for the hospital bills?

Especially the day he stood with his father, in front of the humble cascade that held his mom's frail thin body, when the cancer had finally won , and they both were left with nothing but pain and debts ..

  
Where were the Grants? !

  
Where was all the money that might have saved his mother ?

  
Where were them when he thought it was only him and his dad in this world?

  
He searched and searched for the reason behind the sudden cause of Claudia Grant disappearance from the family photos in newspapers articles , And he only found a couple of magazine's interviews in which Victor, his supposed to be grandfather, said that their daughter had fallen in love with art and that she choose to departure the loud business life into a quiet, private life in a small city in Italy ,

  
Which was a complete lie.!!

  
His mom wasn't in Italy enjoying "art"when her loving parents ,Victor And Nancy ,had no problem bragging with their obscene wealth, she was sick ,sad, and heartbroken. .

It was the first time in his life that Stiles felt absolutely disgusted by someone.  
He turned off the computer and decided that his dad was right and he should forget about them for the rest of his life.

......................

  
However,destiny had another plans for him, and it wasn't even the first time life gave hI'm the cold shoulder.

Two weeks after Stiles turned seventeen his dad died in a gunshot accident in some stupid robbery incident, and just like that, his life collapsed in less than 24 hours.

He was watching a movie with the rest of the pack when Parrish called him and told him there was an accident .. lmmediately, he stared to gaspe for air because his throat suddenly was closing and his chest was hurting by the expected bad news..He knew what Parrish meant by accident, He knew that his dad won't be ever coming home again...

  
And He screamed..

He screamed with every atom in his body..

  
He screamed till he couldn't talk for days later on..

  
The pack was there, trying to calm him and take his pain away, but it wasn't working this time,.no one could take the burnning pain away , no one could heal the gaping wound in his heart..  
Only that darkness was merciful enough to engulf him..

  
....... ......

  
By losing all his family at seventeen, Stiles was in a dark place. .

  
Living with the MCcalls, however, kept him alive. .

  
Melissa made sure that he eats and sleeps while the rest of the pack tried to never leave him alone to his dark thoughts. Someone had to be with him almost all the time..  
But just when he started to talk a little again and almost smile , a woman from the social services had to show up at the MCcalls doorstep with a court order declaring that Stiles must live with his only remaining relatives till he turns eighteen,

  
He must live with Victor And Nancy Grant. .  
..........

  
" What do you mean? ! "

  
Furious Melissa MCcall screamed ;

  
Her lawyer looked at her warning , clearly unsatisfied with her aggressive attitude, however the social worker seemed more understanding, many years of facing angry gurdians gave her the skill to absorb the tension and keep the conversation rolling . She ignored Melissa's anger and repeated calmly,  
" Mrs. Maccall. ."  
" Miss " Melissa interrupted, barley holding her growing desire to hit the woman in front of her in the face and send her to the ER with a concussion,  
" sorry, Miss MCcall" She put on a fake apologestic smile,  
" the thing is, Mr and Mrs Grants are Genim's grandparents , as you know they are his only living relatives and they want him to be under their custody, by law ,I have to say that Stiles has no other choice , at least till he turns eighteen. And ,honestly , I think this will be in his best interest ,In many cases, children are not lucky enough to have this kind of advantage and most of them end up in the system "

  
Melissa spoke between gritted teeth, ,  
" lucky?! Are you KIDDING me? !! he doesn't know these people, he never saw them in his life ! You want to take him out of his town and freinds , the only comfort zone he had ever known, and you consider this as being lucky ?! And who told you I would let him be taken by the system? ! Stiles is like a second son of mine and I would fight for him till the very end"

  
The lawyer interrupts her ,  
" what miss. MCcall here tries to say is that Mr . Stallinski will have troubles adjusting any radical changes in his familer roteine in this period of his life, as you can see , Mr. Stalinski has a history of anxiety and psychological troubles which goes back to the time of his mother passing away, this is recorded by his psychiatrist in his medical records , so maybe we can arrange something for him to stay in his home town till he finishes high school , I believe this is better than the other way around"

  
The social worker studed the paper in her hands for a minute before she finally spoke  
" I truly appreciate what you say Miss. MCcall , I really do, and I can recognise the good intentions behind your words , but we have a system for how things work for Children in Genim's situation, and , we are following the rational steps here, with that being said , I can't make an exception, but ,I want to assure you that Genim's comfort is the priority, He can always talk to you or any of his friends and he can even come to visit if he wanted to .As for his previous medical issues, I am sure Mr.and Mrs. Grant will make sure that he receives the best offered therapy to allow his optimal adaptation" She ended with a smile before she started picking up some papers together ,

  
"now , if you excuse me , I am afraid I am already late for my next appointment. It was nice to meet you Miss. MCcall, I am relieved to know that Genim has alot of good people who care so much about him "  
Melissa shook her head desperately , "You are making a mistake! He doesn't even like to be called Genim! " She shoutedweakly,  
but the social worker was already half the way out of the door ...

  
...........................

  
" I am so sorry honey, I am sorry. ."

  
Mellisa whispered as she huged Stiles, holding him tightly between her arms . She was able to feel him shaking his head before he spoke,  
" It is not your fault, I know you tried,and I couldn't even ask for more. . Thank you so much for everything you did for me " his voice is low and slightly hoarse , muffled by her shoulder .

he gave himself the luxury of melting into her emprace, because he didn't know when he was ever going to feel safe again between someone's arms.

Melissa was like a mother for him .

Since the time he had lost his real mom 9 years ago, she was there for him more times than he could count . She saved him from his darkness when he was almost willing to give up..  
And For that, Stiles will always be grateful. ,even now, when she was letting him face this scary world and the people he hated from his heart ,all by him self. .

  
But he knew she tried. .

It is just how the world worked. how can a single mom who can barley feed herself and her son possibly beat limitless money and power ? In this world, people like himself, Melissa, and even his parents came in second place, their wishes meant nothing when it came to the large whales wishes .

even when he didint ask for much..All that He wanted was to mourn his dad in peace, why was it so difficult?

Why would he lose such a simple right? 

why did he have to pretend he was alright when he certainly was not?

He wanted to crawl into a dark room and cry his eyes out but it wasn't like it was Melissa's fault ..

she tried..

and now he was the one who had to put on the mask of bravery and to pretend again ,because he didn't want her to feel guilty about him. He was such a heavy weight and it was not fair to do that to her.

It felt forever when he finally let her go, and turned to face a crying Scott, looking nothing like the big bad true alpha who he was actually in the real life

  
" I will miss you man , the whole pack will"

  
" I know. . I'll miss you too "

  
They hugged each other , two brothers more than freinds. Scott was able to feel how bad it was for his best friend. He could smell the scent of hurt and anxiety seeping through Stiles skin pores,but even though he was an alpha he couldn't help him, because this wasn't supernatural evil that could be fight with claws and fangs , it was a pure humen caused pain , and claws couldn't rip it away..

  
" It's okay Scotty, I'll be alright " Stiles whispered,

" we will always be with you man, you have to know that, we will talk every day on Skype, we will keep you informed with every little thing happens , you're not alone Stiles "

Stiles smiled, not believing that his life would ever be the same, he knew that even if he tried so bad to be part of the pack , once he was out of Beacon hills, life would do them apart, and everyone would slowly forget about him till he was just a familiar name and a familiar face in old photos, still, he was thankful for Scott attempt to assure him that nothing was going to change, he was lucky to have such a good friend.It was one of the very few things he was lucky enough to have,

" thanks Scotty " ..

He lifted his handbag and walked towards the line of checking in to get on the plane that was heading to Chicago, where his new life was going to be, but just before he pass the large security gate ,someone called him loudly from the the otherside of the airport,

" Stiles, wait !" he turned to catch the sight of Lydia gracefully runing in some rediculous high heels ,making small disturbing "tic-toc" sounds , yet, somehow maneging not to break into a single drop of sweat ,

"Do you think you will go before I give you a good luck hug?" She questioned him before she wraped her arms around him tightly till he was breathing her tropical paradise perfume and he wondered how can not he miss her even if he tried,  
" don't you mean my 'goodbye ' hug?"

She pursed her cherry glossed lips ,  
" this is not a goodbye, you silly , it's a see you later, don't you dare ignore my calls or messages!! plus, I want a daily report about everything, you hear me ? "

  
The moment he tried to answer, a mechanic voice announced through the airport speakers that all the passengers who are heading to Chicago should head to gate 3 ,

  
He sighed while she held him for few more seconds before she kissed him on his left cheek and gave him a small nudge towards the mentioned gate so he just turned around , biting his lip and waiting to hear her clicking steps while she went further away. He was trying desperately to stop the tears that threaten to fall from his eyes exept nothing could work, but then he remembered that there was no one here to see them anyway, so he didn't bother wit hiding.

  
He cried openly , without caring that people where looking at him saddly..

.............................

  
It was a hard flight because all that he could think about was the old photo that he once found and the sad face of his mom when she used to tell him stories about the snow and the scary castle ..

  
......................

  
A short brown man in a black tux was waiting for him in the airport,  
" Khan " who's fifty something year old, told him proudly that he had worked as a driver for the family for the last thirty years at least,  
"I'll be in your order Mr. Stalinski " he said in a cheerful Indian accent,

Stiles just noded his thanks and crawled tiredly to the back of the limousine , resting his head on the window's glass and working his best to ignore the growing pit in his stomach.  
.................

  
Sometime later, Khan opened the door for him and told him that they were here..  
Stiles bit on his lower lip and followed him through the gates of his upcoming prison. .  
...............

  
He wished he could turn a way and run back to California the moment he sat on a white comfy chair in the middle of endless sea of furniture pieces.

The palace inside was unbelievably HUGE !! From the moment he stepped out the car , every thing seemed endess . The great gate from the outside was huging a wide landscape of stunning rose gardens that even in the slightly windy weather of the city this time of the year kept unchanged ,every single rose stood perfectly in its own place, creating a breath taking scene of colours.  
He walked for a mile at least before he reached the front door , and that whs when Khan told him that he usually parks the limo at the palace door but he wanted him to see the beautiful gardens outside,since it was his first time here.

Stiles noded slowly. Things nowadays took longer time to sink through his numb brain since his dad funeral ..

Once he passed the large wooden door, though, he was momentary stunned with the shining yellow glow that illuminated the endless spaces of red carpets and golden statues, the bright chandeliers hang proudly casting their dancing glow over the artworks that covered the walls , and for a moment, Stiles felt like he stood in the middle of a museum.

A pitit looking woman in maid custom greeted him politely then asked him to follow her.

He passed the large hall and noticed the huge stairs, that was, again, like everyhing else covered with thick vulgar red carpet, then couple of turnes later they reached what appeared to be the "guests area " which has more touch of the Victorian style than the rest of the house, the friendlyr woman asked him to sit before she walked away. He sat with a sigh, all this was overwhelming, he kept thinking that this was not HOME , this was nothing like the warm cosy home he had grown up in , this place was glowing, yet it felt cold and soleless and it was slowly swallowing him between its endless halls and rooms. It was a beast ! arrogant and proud in the way that stops your heart out of fear before the beast even try to make a single move, and Stiles was the prey that walked into its trap..

  
No need to fight. .

  
A tear silently fell on his cheek. .  
................................

  
About an hour or so later, he was barley holding his frying nerves when he heared steps heading to where he was sitting.

Nancy Grant walked slowly in a black fancy gown and a fake smirk on her never aged face ..

One look at her was enough to make Stiles mind portrays a picture of Kate Argent to compare her with the woman in front of him. He couldn't find any connection, though between her and his mother's warming presence and humble personality 

" Genim" She said slowly like she was tasting his name on her tongue, and he swallowed nervously,

" I. .I don't go by this name anymore "

She didn't even bother to look at him..

" Before anything, I want you to understand how things go around in this house .." She looked at him with whisky brown eyes that look familiar yet very foreign and he shuddered ,  
" I don't know what kind of a life you had lived before, but we have rules here , a system for achieving success .. do you understand? "

He noded, just willing for this nightmere to end already ,  
" cerfew is at 10 p.m , you have to wake up at 6 a.m, take your shower and do your workout, a trainer will be helping you with your exercise , then we have breakfast at 7:30 , dinner is at 6 p.m precisely, clear?"  
He noded again, but she rose her thin perfect eyebrows,  
" I asked if it was clear ?"

"Y-yes"

" Good , now I saw your school records ... for some reason you seem to do well at school " She pointed with her hand like she was talking about an unbelievable wonder, like he was a dressed monkey drinking a cup of tea  
" mostly anyway, sometimes , you seem to go out of the track , but then , what do you expect from public schools? ! " She rolled her eyes and went on like she was talking to other an invesible person that he couldn't see, " I called Mr. Adam Calton, the headmaster of Amsterdam boys Academy , one of the best Schools among the country, and he had been kind enough to offer you a place there , of course , you would have to take some extra courses to meet the qualifications of such a high academic institute and honestly it is only a small price to pay for the bright future this school can offer you"

He huffed inside his head, he was a senior, he should be enjoying his last school year with his freinds and playing Lacrosse , not working his eyes out for some stupid, fancy school. He didn't think they even know what Lacrosse is here ,and he was willing to bet that he was going to wear a stupid uniform as well, because why would the universe give him a break when torturing Stiles was it's favourite new game! !

" And about your therapy" Nancy spoke,  
"I understand you are on some kind of concentration medication or something.."  
" it Is Adderell , I have ADHD"  
She kept ignoring him " again I don't trust public hospitals and their cheap medical practice, but you are allowed to take it till I make an appointment with Dr. Ira , she is one of the best psychiatrist in the world "  
" thanks "  
He said little sarcastically " and prepare your self to go with Khan to buy some actual clothes rather than these cheap shreds that you are wearing"  
He frowned but tried to resign himself,  
His red hoody , the one he was wearing now, was his favourite hoody and he didn't like it to be insulted,  
"And Genim.."

  
"Stiles "he supplied automatically,

  
" Excuse me? "

  
" It's.. as I said I don't go by this name anymore, please call me Stiles "

"Sta. .what? !"

  
"Stiles " he repeated,

  
" and what is this ? Your gang name or something? " She sarcastically moaked ,

" as I told you things here are different from what you are used to in the slums that you grew up in , the name on your birh certificate is Genim , the name on all your official peppers is Genim and that is what you will be called in this house "

  
Stiles face turned red with anger, and for the first time since his dad daeth he felt something beside numbness , Genim was the name his mom had given him and she was the only one who was allowed to call him that , even as a child his dad was calling him " kiddo or buddy " all the time, the stupid boys in the school called him " geny" and it pissed him off ,so it was easy to let the name go after his mom's death and to pick up another name , it was the little control he had over his life and this woman didn't have any right to judge him while she swaggered in her jewelery pieces that can feed couple thousands of hungry African children to say at least, who did she think she was ?

" it is my name !! I get to choose what it is !"  
" no one care about this kind of childish acts , I won't allow you to go around carrying such a silly nickname... I mean maybe your gang were okay with it..."

  
" Stop insulting my family and my freinds !! What do you know about my life?! You live here in your expensive castle, wearing feather coats and expesive silk and you think this gives you the right to pass judgements !! That you are better than the others ?! You don't have any control upon me and I don't care what the freakin offecial papers say , you don't get to come out of the blue and play grandma " he panted with anger,  
"Because let me tell you, when you were enjoying your sunny bath in Hawai , my dad and I were sitting next to my mom while she was slowly dying in a cold hospital bed, and you ,oh so caring, people were nowhere to be seen !!"

  
Time froze, nothing but the tick tock sound of the grand clock on the wall behind him ,

Nancy held her breath..

  
Then her eyes went wide for a moment, she opened her mouth to speak few times but nothing came out..  
" I think.." She finally said slowly  
" I think that bringing you here was a massive mistake "  
She shook her head " John Stallinski had brainwashed my daughter twenty years ago, and apparently the apple doesn't fall away from the tree"

  
" my dad was a nobel man , he raised me to be a respectful , sensitive and a caring human being , and he died the same way he lived .. a hero "

  
" your dad was nothing but a manipulative jerk who trecked my innocent naive daughter to fall for him, then when he couldn't get any money from his sick plan , he took her away just to revenge me. He is the one responsible for her being sick ,she died out of pain and poverty, he killed her!!"

Nancy screms blew up the fake self confidence that she mastered earlier and exposed the ugly hate she was hiding behind her make up covered skin , she stood there mirroring the tremble that ran through Stiles body  
" My mom had cancer!! And if she died because of any one, then it was YOU!! Letting her down when she needed every little bit of love and support ...plus, if you hate my dad so deeply why going through all the troubles to bring me along, why do you suddenly care?!"  
She looked at him for a long time before she called for a woman in her early sixties and asked her to take him to his room and to make sure that he stays there ..

  
Stiles was considering his options,  
to ignore her and just turns his back and leaves, or even stays where he is standing right now not making a single move?! but then what is next? If she threw him out what was he going to do?He didn't know anyone in this city and he barely had any money.  
He huffed loudly.. Then, like a trapped animal in a cage , he followed the old woman in silence. .

...............

  
" His room" or more accurately his prison cell , had a king size bed in the the middle , a disk with a brand new Apple laptop and an iphone 6 to the right side , while to the left there was a simple white sofa with two golden chairs on each side , few steps from the farthest chair , there were 2 doors , later on , he would learn that they are a dressing room and a bathroom.

  
Across the bed on the wall , hanged a 60 inch screen with playstation 4 on the small table below it .  
A simple chandelier decorated the centre of the room , even when the room was brightly illuminated by the window behind the bed, late evening sun rays passing freely through the translucent curtains..

it was simple white with gold lines over the wall and the bed , the carpet was fluffy ivory white that felt cosy beneath his bare feet .  
And no denying that the room was simply astonishing, every little detail was carefully chosen to create the perfect artwork. In other life , Stiles would fall in love with it and never ever leaves it , not just it was every teenager dream room, actually, it was more like every human being dream room..  
But then , so what?  
He felt like he was forced to eat a pie when his mouth was inflamed and filled with ulcers , no matter how much the pie tasted good , it will hurt his mouth and he won’t be able to swallow it. .

  
The golden lines on the walls were the cell bars and the fluffy carpet felt like needles beneath his feet .He did not care how much comfortable was his metres, it couldn't hold the nightmares away , and the huge room seemed to close on him when the panic decided to pay him a visit.

He refused to go near the brand new laptop or iPhone like he refused every thing in this life.  
He took out his own crappy phone and sent a message to the pack  
" just made it to the house , so tired though, talk to you later "  
Then he added  
" Miss you so much " before he turned off his phone and cried himself to shaky sleep .

  
........................

  
Two days later,  
Sometime near 10 a.m the sixty something woman came in wearing a formal suit. Jackie, his mind supplied her name,  
" you will be starting school tomorrow, so Khan will be here in about an hour to take you shopping for some necessary items that you will be needing "

" I thought I am not allowed to leave this room ?!" He asked tiredly not even bothering to pretend to be strong anymore, he barely slept in the last few days and the constant nausea he was feeling didn't help his deteriorating wight at all .  
The last time he looked to himself in the mirror, a pale thin face with dark bruises beneath his eyes looked back at him, since then he kept thinking about all the excuses that he could come up with for not to vedio chat with any of his friends .He knew they won't be letting him away for long before they ask to see him , but by the way he looked now, they will probably jump on the first plane heading to Chicago to come and take him home back ,  
And let the Grants go to hell !!  
And didn't he dream about this happening more than anything else , didn't he feel tired of hanging on by himself ,  
He sighed, 

  
No..

  
It wouldn't be fair, to worry them , or to make them fight his battles .

He had been leaning on them for a long time and it's time to be brave and do it for himself. 

So he fought the urge to call his pack and beg them to save him from this prison every day while he cried himself to sleep every night. .

He was so drowned in his thoughts that he did not notice when Jackie smiled a little sad smile and moved slowly towards the foot of the bed where he lied down shamelessly ignoring her presence ,  
" I think it would be better for you to get out of here for a little while , sunlight and fresh air can do wonders , you won't even imagine "  
" and why do you care about me, or is it just that I am a pet in this house that needs to be fed and taken in a walk every once in a while! "  
" Don't rush and pass judgements, everyone in this house care about you " 

Stiles frowned under his pellow ,  
"Yeah right! !" They care about him that they had been holding him against his will , killing him slowly or breaking him till he decides to finally finishes the job and kill himself.

  
" Have some patience my dear, Don't count your chickens before they've hatched" She sayed quitly 

  
" what?" He asks surprised, because the only one he knew who used to say this silly idom was his mom.

Jackie's voice wasn't sarcastic or cold , somehow her words came holding pure concern and he admired her talent in pretending she meant what she was saying,  
" I don't want to go anywhere. ..  
I don't feel well anyway " he stated tiredly and he was not even lying ..

" you would be surprised by how much good some fresh air can do "  
" Why do you act so nice? just leave already, you did your work and I told you no, plus ,pretending to be kind doesn't work for your whole prisoner's guard image "

" Stiles " She called him softly , and it was the first time someone in this house addresses him by his name , his heart started beating little fast and he curiously lifted the pellow slowly to meet her eyes few steps away from him,  
" you are not a prisoner, everything that is going on here, believe it or not ,is done for your best interests , the Grants payed so much troubles to get you here and they want to make sure that you're being as comfortable as possible ..it is just. . Things didn't work the way it should have been in your first day here, all of this is a huge misunderstanding, I know you are upset and offended but there are some old problems that you weren't supposed to be dragged to ,and I am sorry for that , but things would change if you allow them to do and time will prove you different . ."

She smiled..

  
Even when what she was saying made absolutely no sense to him..  
Even when he was angry , tiered and borderline explosive in this moment. .

  
But still...

  
He could oddly recognise something warm behind her eyes, and for the first time in the Grants' custody, he thought that he can trust someone. .

He stood up slowly, hit the shower then threw on some clothes before he followed Jackie out the prison's gate ..  
...............

  
Khan took them to a huge mall with fancy different brand stores , Jackie took him by his hand and pushed him around to try different clothes on .  
She did it in a real Lydia Martin style ,so he had to put the clothes on so she either give him the approval or a frown , like he is some kind of 5 years old kid who's mother is shopping for him !!  
And, God !! He did not like it!! Not at all ! but if she was anything like Lydia then he knew that the easier way to deal with it was to just to let her lead the way and follows in silence , and that what he ended up doing eventually. She managed to buy him tens of trousers, blazers and some seriously expensive sweaters , all designer's made. Finally ,few hours later, he announced that he was going to pass out if he had to go into another store with freaky bronze manikins that were dressed in rediculous pants and blazers, so they finally decided to take a break.

Khan drove for a while till they reached a fast food restaurant, making Stiles eyes go wide when hever praked the rediculous huge lim in its tin praking area...  
Jackie looked at his opened mouth and gave him a knowing smileat him ..  
" what is this place? ! We are going to have lunch here?! You mean I can really have a cheeseburger and curly fries and not more of the disgusting medium raw steak or Soupe à L’oignon " he shouted both surprised and excited.. Jackie shook her head smiling , " you did a good job in shopping today, I think you deserve a treat "

  
They sat on the furthest table and a blond waitress brouht them a menu and recommend them to try today's special, however the moment the sock wore off , Stiles realised that he was not really hungry, only thrilled by the idea of breaking rules , something his old self used to thrive on,  
" so a cheeseburger and curly fries? " Jackie asked him but he only shruged,  
" Naaah.. I guess I will pass"  
" what are you talking about? We have been manically shopping for the last 3 hours, you must be starving !"  
" not really,,.. but you can make your order ,, I am okay this way"

  
She kindly asked the waitress to give them sometime to decide before she turned her attention to him,  
" Stiles? ! What is wrong? I thought you like this place?"  
" yeah, yeah.. it seems really good, I am just not hungry at the moment "  
" Are you sick? Do we need to go to a doctor? "  
" what ! No, no doctors ..I just don't feel like eating now , nothing more "  
" you're still mad.."  
"NO. . I mean I am mad ..but . .I am honestly more confused than anything else " he paused a little but Jackie kept looking at him ,encouraging him to speak and says whatever he wanted to say,  
"The Grants. .Nancy. . if she hates my dad so much, if they hate me why to bother all the troubles and bring me? ! I didn't even knew about them till I was twelve, 3 years after my mom died "  
he fidgets a little,  
" I didn't know that they even knew that I exist !"

  
Jackie's face softened " oh they knew.... They knew every thing because they have never stopped watching, but only from a distance, they didn't dare to come close ." She frowned , adding small lines to the already fine ones around her eye,  
"They thought they had lost their daughter and they would never going to have her back , so they just kept watching"

She smiled a little, " Did you know that I was your mom’s nanny ?!"  
His eyes went wide and he shook his head, he did not know that, because till now he couldn't see his mom anywhere in that cold house anyway ,  
Jackie went on ,  
" I was .."  
"Claudia, Cali, was the closest thing I had for a daughter. .I watched her grow in front of my eyes ..I was there when she lost her first baby tooth , finished her first book ,got her first school report. . I was the one who was there in every birthday and every school play. . even when her parents were abroad in some business trip or charity event "

  
She sighd deeply like the memories were taking their toll on her,  
" I was the one who give her love advices, and cover for her when she sneaks out .l hold her close secrets in the bottom of my heart, and.. I was the first one to whom she spoke to about John Stallinski. ."  
" you? you knew my dad?!"  
" I ..." She looked at him and smiled through her watery eyes,  
" I deliverd John Cali's secret letters , and I took his back to her" ..  
She wiped her tears and lost herself to past for a second. .  
Stiles smiled in spite of himself, imagining his dad young and rebellious, fighting for his forbidden love. .

" Cali's heart fluttered each time she saw him and he went all clumsy and blushy around her.. his words of adoration and his promises of love were spoken from his heart and they were the anchor to her soul..I have never seen Cali so happy and ongoing, it is like she suddenly loved her life and she had something to wake up for everyday . . I guess, I knew then what true love looked like and I knew that nothing in this world can do these two apart"

Her words were warming his inside , because those were his parents that she talked about and Stiles was truly, honestly and deeply missing them, and missing the ability to talk to them or talk about them , to know more and more and not to feel he was alone in this world. .

Jackie's eyes kept wandering behind him like she was watchin a film of old memories, when suddenly an expression of bitterness replaced her teary smile ,  
" Mr and Mrs Grant however couldn't see behind John's broken family , drunk father and his barley passed GED scores..  
No matter what she said to them, they couldn't give up their precious smart ,talented daughter to a pitiful man who seemed to be deceiving her and abusing her nieve young heart .... I mean Claudia was their only daughter, she was meant to inherit the Grants empire , the family name , and the family fortune , so the words of love she spoke meant nothing for them. They thought they were doing the right thing and they have never ever thought , not in a million year , that she will actually give everthing to follow her heart . ."

  
" but they gave up on her! What kind of parents do that?!!"

  
She sighs. .  
" Stubborn ?. ."  
"NO. . arrogant " Stiles corrected and she noded

" What Mrs. Grant did with you , Stiles, it is the only way she knows to deal with every thing in her life.. Stiles.. you might not believe it now but she loves you. .you are the only part of Claudia that she has now... She spent her life regretting her choices and wishing for her daughter to come back. .

and about what she said about your dad. . I think her heart is broken and she is looking for someone to blame ..deep dawn she knows that John loved Claudia till the last day of her life.. ."

  
" he did.." Stiles sniffed ..  
" But mom died alone thinking that her parents hated her!!"

  
" I don't think she thought that, Stiles. .If I know Cali at all ,I believe she knew that they never stopped loving her, she was only sad that they torture themselves with their stubbornness" She stated sadly, then they sat in silence for a while before she spoke again,  
" this restaurant used to be your mom's sneak away place"  
" ohhhh...are you serious! !" He shouted in awe,  
" It was, I swear , she adored the cheeseburger here, too , so, what do you say about giving it a shot? For the sake of old good memories "  
"I .."  
" come on, you don't know what are you missing here , believe me, you'll be begging me to come again "

  
" what will be possibly here to miss ?! Burgers from the eighties ?!"

  
" it is a deal of old goodies that you don't want to miss"

  
" yeah , yeah, okay, I'll have a cheeseburger already " he rolled his eyes while smiling, " great! !"

  
She searched for the waitress to come and take there orders before she said,  
"Now we should hurry up , we still need to pick you few more pairs of shoes and some underwears"  
Stiles ears turned red and he looked at his feet while he noded slowly .

......................

  
He fought the darkness that threaten to consume him every minute of every day.  
Sometimes it was easier to stop fighting his demons and surrender to the panic and self loathing ,till one day he just couldn't anymore, he felt so disgusted by his weakness and decided that enough is enough. He either fights for himself or die trying for the sake of his love ones ,

  
One day he woke up and decided to be a man with a mission !!  
"So first step, get out of your brain Stiles it is drowning you !! " he concluded. Somehow talking with Jackie opened his eyes to some important facts , Victor And Nancy Grant may not be truly, deeply bad , he tried to convince himself , maybe they were just psychologically disturbed and profoundly confused ,guilty parents.

  
Even if it didn't give them the right to do what they did, and it didn't take his right to be mad of them or to even hate them for what they did for both of his parents,

but again, Stiles wouldn't be better than them if he acted in the same way they did. .

He owed his mom to give her some peace after death..  
And he owed his dad to prove that the Grants were wrong about him . .

so, He spended a lot ao time making planes to try and get something right out of this mess he found himself in ,  
Life was giving him lemons and he had to make lemonade . .

  
................

  
But maybe lemonade was not his favourite anymore ...

Because his life didn't magically get better after all.

He still had to work hos ass out to go through his extremely hard school schedule, force himself to show up at time for breakfast and dinner, actually eat and sleep, talk to Scott, Lydia and the rest of the pack and even help them with some research work ..  
He called it plan "1.0 " "tire your self everyday till you fell asleep " ..

  
And it suckud big time but it did the trick..  
He got to have some talking time with Jackie though.  
Mostly ,They talked about his parents and it was the only fuel that kept Stiles going , it was even better than therapy , which proved to be a total waste of time, like all the other times he had ever tried it. It was nothing different apart from the fancy office and the expensive furniture,  
Dear dr.Ira asked him the same questions and she gave him almost the same replies he used to hear from his previous psychiatrist ,only she loved to use her big dictionary words to make him feel that she fancy and orgenal .

But It only worked to give him a belly laugh every time.She had this blind faith that she was perfectly right in her analysis of how he thinks and how he acts eben when the truth was that she didn't even come close !

But why not to let her thinks she did ? It is not like he had alot of people to mess with around here anyway.

His only contact with Nancy was during breakfast and dinner, and they both ate in silence . Non of them had ever apologised to the other one about their hurtful words.. However, Nancy acted like nothing had ever happened and as if his mare showing up at time of food was enough to satisfy her ,and it was not like he had any energy to correct her or actually doing anything more than showing at dinner, he was still mad of her ,  
So he enjoyed her silence treatment , and gave her the same thing.. it was better this way. .

  
Victor on the othe hand travelled almost all the time ..

  
Stiles met him for the first time 8 weeks after he had first came to Chicago..  
They met over dinner .  
And opposite to what Stiles thought, he wasn't very bad..

  
Not like Nancy at least...

  
Victor is a serious man, yet, very diplomatic. He asked him about his school work , his sport's preference and his favourite subjects with true intrest behind the questions, and he gave Stiles the chance to speak freely. He even discussed his opinions with him ,enjoing his unique point of view. .  
But then he had to mess it up and call him Genim, too.

  
And Stiles hated it..

The next day however, Victor was gone again and they were back to silent diners

Stiles thought about how both Victor And Nancy never talked about his mom or had any photos of her anywhere in the house ..

Did they really forget about her or did they acted this way to live with the hidden pain and the broken hearts?  
Maybe they were fans of ignoring the problem till it disappeares by its own.  
Something he was quite familiar with..  
He can even considers this principle to be one of his personally fevorete philosophies..

  
.....................

  
Chicago' s cold hits him hard, a complete opposite to sunny Calefornia. .  
Still ,he fells in love with the snow ..

Something about Chicago's white streets keeps him amused through his limo rides every day.  
Snow flakes carry an old childhood nostalgia about snow angles flying snowballs and it warmed old places in his memories that he thought he had lost it forever

Christmas is in acouple of weeks and but he still has 3 days of school before the holidays. Jackie tells him that the Grants will be spending the Christmas in Key West, Florida this year, him included of course, and he is truly disappointed that he will be leaving the snow behind. .  
Scott, however, gets so excited about it when he tells him and Stiles can't stop laughing at his friend's shameless display of enthusiasm. .  
It started when Stiles showed him his room for the first time and Scott's mind was blown away by everything since..

Lydia gives him an approving nod to his new sweater , but she had been doing this alot lately since all he wears now is designer's made clothes so it is not like he was expecting anything less .  
He told her about Jackie, and his theory about how she and Lydia most have common ancestors or something so Lydia decides that she likes her already .  
The truth is that talking to the pack wasn't easy, because for Stiles, it meant that he has to put his bravery mask on, and sometimes he couldn't master the energy , but again , it got easier with time and he hoped it meant he was recovering.

  
The fact that he has people who still care that much about his life made him gladly spend more than 45 minutes on Skype telling Scott about some new vedio game and listening to Lydia's advice about different types of leather gloves that he should wear in Chicago's snowy weather ..  
..............

 

It is his first time to be almost alone with both of the Grants and he will be lying if he said that he wasn't absolutely terrified. .  
Both Jackie and Khan will be spending the holidays with their families, leaving him without their very needed support, so out of the blue, his old anxiety takes the chance to resurface once he put his bag on the king size bed of his private hotel room .  
Suddenly his hands start shaking and his breath quickens and he can easily recognises all the signs of the impending panic attack, only , the last time it happened was long time ago and he is alone in a strange place without his dad or any of his freinds around ,which makes it even worse and he panics more .. he pases around the room few times before he opens the door of and jets out manically knocking on the first door he sees just as his vision starts to get blurry and his lungs burn up with the lack of oxygen .

  
His heartbeats jackhummer rapidly and loudly like his heart is preparing to take of out of his chest ..and he cant remeber that it being this bad before ..  


  
Maybe that's it this time.. he is going to die..

  
" ..eath , breath. .look at me .. breath "  
The hands that touch him freaks him out and he tries to get away from them..

God..He is going to die..

  
" Okay. .okay ..no one is touching you ..calm down. ."  
The hands disappeare..  
He slides down to the floor gasping for an impossible breath. .

  
" Stiles. .Stiles. .hey look at me ..breath with me .."  
Whiskey brown eyes get into his focus. .  
"Come on Stiles. .in and out, in and out"  
He tries to mimic it but he is throat is closed and his heart will explode. .

  
He is losing control. .

  
He is going to die...

  
" ..not dying. .do you hear me ..you are not dying. .come on honey ..come on. breath with me .. in and out ..in and out .."  
He tries again ..and it's agonisingly slow catch that his body makes before he is breathing again and his heart is not going to explode anymore. .

  
" that is it..that is it..you are doing great. . Can I touch you now??"

  
He nods slowly and the whiskey eyes become more close as a cool hand rest on his own hand,

  
" are you alright? "  
He swallows and does not answer. He is still catching his breath when the cool hand wipes tears away from his cheeks. .  
When did he start to cry?  
Nancy Grant smiles at him and she looks worried ,

  
Or maybe it is his mind playing tricks on him!  
For the first time ,It hits him how much his mom looked like Nancy and he cries shamelessly. .  
" shhhhhhhh ,sweetheart. .you are okay"

  
She says as she is slowly moves to hug him..  
It is a stiff hug and she wreaks with disgustingly heavy perfume, but Stiles lets her do it ..

  
They both need it..

  
......................

  
When he wakes up later, he is cuddled up under extremely warm duvet with a fuzzy memory of what happened, and for a moment he thinks he is alone again till he hears the door of the bathroom opens ,

  
Nancy comes out looking perfect as usual but she seems surprised to see him awake..  
" how do you feel? " She asks calmly  
" alright I guess. .I mean things are little fuzzy..but...I think I had a panic attack. ."  
" you did"  
" and..you was there ..and ..you helped me? "  
" I know one or two things about panic attacks" her voice cracks a little but she doesn't give any further explanations , and he doesn't expect her to do.

  
This is the first time Stiles sees how tired and hurt she is when she lets her walls down for just a minute...  
Just a minute... then she is the Iron woman Nancy Grant again and she is already heading out of the room..  
"Can you., um.." he starts and she turns to face him again with her usual cool expression,  
" can you sit with me for a while ?"  
She rises her eyebrows,  
" don't you want to get some rest?"  
" no ..I don't want to be alone ..I mean just for a while? "  
Later on , he is going to blame his oxygen deprived brain but right now he doesn't want to be alone,  
She sighs and sits on the sofa across the room and Stiles lies back and look to the ceiling,  
" I remember something " he says after a while,  
" you called me Stiles "  
She doesn't look at him but she nods her head,  
" it was the only way to make you look at me... still that doesn't mean I approve it ".  
Of course she doesn't, who was he kidding?  
"It was in your medical record that you had some panic attacks before, but I didn't know you still have them" She picks some magazine from the table in front of her , and pretends she is having a casual conversation with her lady freind in a book club. .

  
Stiles inwardly rolls his eyes for how fake it is her " not to care " attitude ..  
" it had been a while " he says,  
" since you came to Chicago? "  
" It was the first"  
She nods again,  
" I'll make sure to contact Dr . Ira as soon as we are back"  
" yeah. .Thanks"  
She goes back to the magazine in her hand, when Stiles blurts suddenly  
" where is Mr. Grant? "  
" his flight from New York had been delayed, he will be here in the morning ..and you don't have to call him Mr. Grant , just call him Victor "  
Stiles smiles a little,  
" and call you Nancy? !"  
"It is my name , isn't it? "  
" then call me Stiles to be even"  
" Don't push your luck "  
" alright alright "  
' baby steps ' he reminds himself. .  
Plus ,today he discovered that there was a person somewhere inside Nancy Grant and she is not 100% a mechanic robot like he thought earlier. .

  
Maybe there is a tiny hope after all..  
................................

  
Somehow he ends playing chess with Victor after dinner the next day,and when he shouts excitedly ' CHECKMATE", smiles and tells Victor proudly,  
" my dad taught me this move"

  
.......................

  
They spend the next day on the hotel's private beach and enjoy Florida Sun . Nancy seems to watch him but she turns her eyes away whenever he looks towards her..  
Victor explains some economic facts for him , and even though it's extremely boring, he pays so much effort to understand them which in turn impresses Victor. .  
He asks him to visit the company one day to learn more about it and Stiles promises him that he will try..

  
......................

  
Two days before Christmas Stiles gets a nightmare about his dad dying again and again in front of his eyes .  
He jerks up with a dying scream on his lips before he breaks in to tears and sobs till the sunshine. His head hurts and his stomach hurts and the stupid nightmare keeps repeatin itself behind his eyes every time he tries to get some rest . He tries to ignore how bad he feels, but it gets worse and he ends up crawling to the bathroom and vomiting everything in his stomach..  
And this how he ends up being sick in the day they were supposed to take a yacht trip in ..  
Nancy insists in bringing a doctor while Victor makes all the arrangements to change their hotel because he believes it has to be some thing in the food that made him sick,

Stiles whines about their non logical fussing around him,not that he secretly actually amused, but still he shouts in frustration that it is not a food poisoning and that he doesn't need a doctor ,  
" it's just a cold ..I need a bowl of soup , a good movie on Netflix and some cuddling and I will be as good as new"  
They settle on watching "Inception" , with a bowel of chicken soup in his hands and just being in the same room because this is the closest thing he is going to have for a cuddle. 

  
It makes him think about his pack and how bad he misses their movie nights and all the pack cuddlings..  
He misses his dad tomato soup and his old worn duvet..  
.................

  
" Merry Christmas !!"

  
A red hair woman in a short red skirt and rediculous reindeer antlers greet them at the door of hall. .  
Is is Christmas eve , and Stiles, somehow ends up going with Victor And Nancy to some rich people gathering .  
Victor had told him that it is important for the business to show up in as many as they can manege of high class assemblies,

"This business is all about appearance. In market, you have to keep your enemies close, and you have to show them whenever you can that you are a strong competitor, that you are everywhere, a businessman reputation is his strogest weapon"  
" But it's Christmas eve "  
" that doesn't change anything " Victor insures him,  
He wondered if that what his mother's had to endure when she was younger. He can almost see her disappointed face every time her parents took away her normal life and forced her to do this useless crap.

Once inside ,He was introduced as 'Genim Grant', but before he can protest , Nancy looked at him with almost a plead in her eye !  
And as much as he was reluctant , he knew that announcing that he is " Stiles Stilinski and go to hell if you don't like it" is going to do more harm than good ,  
Especially for his parents. .

  
So , he just let it go..

  
Because these women in their exaggerated outfits and those men with heavy cigars and alcoholic breathes were playing a big fake game and "Genim Grant "was as fake as each one of them.

Though, no matter how he tried , in Less than an hour later, he found himself bored out of his mind . He sneaked away the first moment Nancy turned her head.

He wondered for a while till he found himself standing in an open balcony in the opposite part of the hall with no one in there,  
' perfect' he thought, then he checked again to make sure that no one has saw him so he wouldn’t be dragged again in to a stupid conversation with yet another loaded guy with a 9 zeros bank account and a minus zero sense of humour .

He was looking to sky ,calculating in his brain when would be the next full moon when some voice spoke from behind him,  
" cool night !"  
He turns fast, startled, to find himself looking to a blond girl in a red dress around his age or slightly younger,  
" oh, sorry, I didn't mean to scare you! "

"NO, I am just surprised to see anyone else here..but you are totally right about it being a cool night though " he says and she walks and stands next to him before she smiles sweetly,  
" so you got bored or you are just here to watch the stars? " She asks ,  
" I think it would be romantic to say I am here for the stars but I have to admit that one extra minute inside this place and I would've lost my mind "  
" Oh My God, yeah!!so I am not alone !! "

" alone? Ha , I think bored people in this place are so many that they could make a small town of angry cetizins if they weren't so daze with booze anyway "  
She smirks at him " I can get us some of these if you want"  
She grins and he grins back widely like the total idiot that he was  
" wow, we just met and you want to get me a drink already !! Ohhh, I wish I can though ,I mean,normally I am not the type of guy who turns down a free drink but I just recovered from a bad case of a stomach flu and I am not willing to take the risk and spoil this beautiful night with my puke on your shoes or something , I mean. .don't think of that , you don't need thet mental image. .shit.."  
He blushes,  
" I am sorry I have this stupid habit of rumbling so you can shut me up anytime. .like know. .I am sorry"  
She laughs heartedly,  
" you are not making it easy to have a conversation here , come on, give it some effort to impress the girl here dude" ,  
He rises his eyebrows,  
" I ...she should..I mean like something l have said most be impressing. . "

  
WHAT THE HELL WAS HE DOING? !

  
Goodbye Stiles love life, he mentally flush it in the toilet ,before he starts to sweat nervously, but the beautiful girl , bless her heart, ignores his successful attempt to commit social suicide and casually says,

" ohhhh, cocky one you are, how can you be so sure ?" She says  
" ummmm, is she ? I mean.. are you? Like, even, little impressed? " he stumbles ,and prays he didn't ruined everything by being his goofy ackwared self,  
" you are actually interested in impressing me?!" She rolls her eyes,  
" Of course I am ..you are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen" he says smoothly and the cool cocky girl is the one who's blushing now

" not so bad, dude" She looks away still blushing, and he smiles,  
" How can you ever ignore a girl who says dude !!"  
They both laugh..  
" I guess having 3 brothers makes me forget my lady's manners every once in a while..I just have to make sure my mom is not around " She says sarcastically and Stiles finds the way she stresses the" s" latter so it doesn't come as "th" is quite adorable,  
" I am Stiles by the way "  
" Audery,"  
They shake hands  
"nice to meet you Stiles "  
"So ...what do you think that we sneak to the roof and watch the stars more closely "  
She laughs sweetly,  
"You are not exactly as simple as you look, you know?"  
She pauses a little and looks at him deeply,  
"You are not like anyone else around here, I think you are different, Stiles "  
He feels little nervous,  
" bad different? "  
"Not bad , just...different, you are not so arrogant like most of the guys from around here, and you have this touch of ..I don't know. . Cute nervousness?"  
And now he is the one who is blushing again,  
She smiles ,  
" so, you ware saying something about the roof? "  
............  
"Where have you been Genim?"  
Nancy looks clearly unimpressed by his lame excuses to cover up for his three hours disappearance , he was lucky she didn't pull him from his ear in front of everyone and drag him back to the hotel room, because she can totally do it if she wanted  
" A..as I said I was thirsty so I went to fetch a glass of water then I went to the bathroom"  
" for three hours? !"  
" for like a reasonable part of the three hours "  
" Don't test my patience Genim! !"  
" Okay, Okay. . I felt so bored so I went to the balcony to get some fresh air. . I swear ..that is it"  
She doesn't look convinced but she doesn't push it further for some reason , she just sighs deeply and says ,  
"We will talk about it once we go back to Chicago because now there something else I want to talk to you about"  
He swallows nervously and waits for some thing bad to happen,  
" I had a conversation with Mr. Calton, your headmaster , and he told me how much of a good job that you are doing, he is quite impressed by your efforts and the fact that you had one of the highest scores in the mathematics SAT preparations test. And to be honest, I must say that I have the same impression , too"

  
What?!

  
That seemed dengerously close to a compliment, He thought.

However, never in a million year that he would've expect her to say what he heared next,

  
" Good job Genim, I am proud of you "

  
His eyebrows shoot up , and she almost smiles by how silly he must be looking right now ,  
This night keeps turning to be more crazy by the moment,  
and if it is not enough, she opens the dresser drawer and hands him a red rebbon wrapped small box ,  
" merry Christmas, and keep your good work "  
He takes the box then slowly unwraps it revealing a black Rolex Watch ,  
" It is .. beautiful. .I love it " He does,  
For the next moment he doesn't know what to do,before he takes a deep breath and suddenly withot any warnings he wraps his arms around Nancy , surprising both of them by his action.

  
It is just a moment before her arms come to wrap around him, too.  
..............................

  
" A girl?! What girl?" Scott's mouth falls open

,  
" Audery, her name is Audery, and you wouldn't believe how amazing she is Scott ! I mean she is sooo beautiful! And funny and the way she talks and smiles...Ahhhhhh ....I can't think in any thing else "

  
" Stiles! !wow man !!when ? I mean how? Like where did you met her? "

  
" in one of the Nancy and Victor boring parties , I sneaked out and bumped into her"

  
"And? What did you do? "

  
" I was so nervous, you know how much of an idiot I can be, but she actually said it's cute that I am nervous! Do you believe how lucky I am? ! Then we sneaked to the roof, and let me tell you man it was not easy!! The freakin security guard were everywhere and we had to climb out of some window to reach the fire stairs"

  
"Wow..Then what happened when you guys finally made it?"

  
" we lied down next to each other..and.. We talked..then....We kissed , and Scotty , it was magic!"

  
Scott laughed,  
" you should look at yourself now ..you are sooo gone "

  
Stiles frownes at Scott through his laptop's screen,  
" don't be a jerk Scott I have always endured all your love life bubbling before"

  
Scott shakes his head frentically ,  
" No!no ! I am not making fun of you man it is just you do really like this girl right?"

  
Stiles Sighs sadly  
" I think I do ... but.. her dad is a politician , and they live in Whashington, I don’t even know if I will ever see her again in my life "

  
Scott face softens,  
" sorry about that man"

  
Stiles shrugs,  
" maybe it's for the best, I don't know if she even liked me"

  
Scott nods sadly, before he smiles and changes the subject,  
" what did you got for Christmas? "

  
Stiles grins,  
" I knew you would ask me that!so,Nancy got me a Rolex Watch and Victor, you wouldn't believe it, he bought me some Stoke shares and made me a bank account to which all the profits will automatically go to"

  
" No Way !!"

  
Stiles smirks,  
" YES, I am officially a rich man now Scotty"  
"Wow, someone had a really lucky Christmas this year !"

  
" yeah I think it.." he stops mid sentence when his phone rings and Scott watches his face turns from slight shock to wide grin ,

  
" Who is it dude?"

  
" Scott I'd have to talk to you later"

  
" wait Stiles! !"

  
"It's Audrey, Scott, bye now"

  
Scott sighs and laughs a little when his laptop screen rapidly turns black..

  
...............

  
Time seemed to pass quickly that Stiles didn't believe today was his last SAT exam! !

  
After the crazy tension and stress that he had been living in for the last month he was finally a free man ,  
He took a selfie for himself with the big red "x" mark on his calender and posted it on instgram with the title  
" Can't believe I made it !!I finished my Exams and FINALLY I have my life back !!

He got the first comment from Audery ,

" Congratulates Babe, finally we get to talk without the shadow of your study schedule hanging around , LoL" ,

grinning widely he started to write her a reply when Jackie knocked on his door,

" you are not ready yet ?! Stiles it is 5:50 "

They were having dinner out today , since Victor was in Chicago and Stiles finished his exams, but Stiles wasn't ready yet and that usually meant troubles ?given that Nancy was a obsessed with being on time and never to be late

" yeah , yeah , I'll be ready in a moment "

He blurted to the dressing room and grasped a black button down shirt and a black jeans and started to change into them as he spoke from behind the door of the dressing room knowing that Jackie will still be in the room, " Jackie, why can't you come too ?! You know I'll tell them today ,I wanted you to be with me"

" I told you it is a family dinner Stiles, I can't come, and I am sure you will do okay" She repeated her old promise , and it didn't change the fact that he is nervous, but as usual, he didn't get to have another choice. .

So they go to one of the Grants favourite 7 stars restaurants , and once they reach to there usual table Nancy asks about his college applications and recommendation letters which gives him the opening that he need,

"So I want to ask you guys for something? " They both look at him and nod their permission to speak,

" I know that I still have School , but it will be only for the weekend, ummmm, I want to go to Beacon hills "

Nancy frowns, " and why in God's name you would go to California in the middle of school ?

" Because. ...next week is mom's birthday... and I always go to see her on her birthday " He blurts nervously before he raises his head and look to their shocked faces ,

Victor sips his whiskey greedily and Nancy ' s face pales as she stares at him before she turns to face her husband with a panicked look in her eyes ,

Stiles feels guilt tugs beneath his skin, because he had never seen her so scared but just when he is about to speak again, she stands up and leaves them both without saying a single word.

He is thorn between following her or staying behind, not knowing if he is going to make things worse ,

" I didn't mean to upset you her" He looks to Victor,

" I just ..I didn't been at my mom since I came here ,and I didn't even go to see my dad ever.." he bites his lower lip,

" I thought it was time to bring up this already , I mean I even wanted to ask you if you want to come with me "

Victor's head shoots up so rapidly to look at him that the whiskey glass slips from his hand and makes a small noise when it breaks into hundred pieces.

A waiter ruches in and ask if everything is alright while another one swipes the mess immediately,

" Why don't you come with me Mr.Grant ,I will take you to your another table .."

" NO ..no " Victor interrupts him and throws a couple of hundred on the table,

" no need ..something came up and we need to leave now, come on Genim " he says and walks away before Stiles even stands up..

"Ya Jackie , look how it turned out freakin Great! " Stiles thinks sarcastically.

. ..............

He flys with Jackie to his home sweet home . Melissa and Scott are waiting for them in the airport,

" Stiles, honey, you look amazing " Melissa hugs him tightly and just then it hits him how much he missed her and missed her warm hugs that felt like home ,

" I missed you so much mama MCcall "

" oh honey, I missed you too, but seriously, look at yourself " she holds his face in her hands and takes a good look at him ,

" you look healthy and fit.."

" yeah mom , he looks good he got it, we all got it , now can I say hello to my best friend already " She rolls her eyes then raises her eyebrows and Scott backs up immediatlly .

Stiles and Jackie cover thier laughs with their hands ,

" don't test me Scott " Melissa says and Scott ears turns red and he whines a low " mom !" before Jackie intervenes to save the poor puppy eyes boy,

" hello , you most be Melissa, Stiles talks abou you and Scott all the time, I am Jackie Tylor"

"yeah, of course Jackie , hi "

She shakes her hand

" thank you for taking care of Stiles " Jackie smiles, and this is how the good friendship stars between these two equally important women in Stiles life.

.. ......................

Do dead people know how there loved ones are little bit dead from the inside too ?!

Jackie comes with him to the cemetery, and they both sob for an hour at Claudia's Stone,

" Cali, honey, I miss you so much.. I hope you had a happy life, baby, I hope that your heart had taken you through the right way " She places a small crochet doll next to the lily bouquet they bought ,

" here is your little dolly , Cali , remember, every thing was alright when you had dolly with you" She sniffs before she turns her head to the stone next to Claudia's ,

" hey, John ... Thank you for taking care of my little girl till the very end .. Thank you for being there for her" She wipes her tears and nods to Stiles,

" I'll be in the car honey, have some time with your dad and mom" She kisses his head before she leaves him alone,

" m..mom , d..dad " He starts but he is sobbing and the words won't come ,

" I ...I m..miss you soo m..mush"

" happy b..birthday mom" he add a single red rose to the lilies 

" This year..This year was s..so difficult ... I thought about giving up more than no to.. m..more times than you can imagine "

" this world is a b..big , dark place and I was s..so scared, I am so scared. "

" I know you didn't want to leave me alone , I k..know you didn't have a choice. .but you didn't tell me what to do next..I ..mean I try to make the right things and..to make you guys proud of me.. but I don't know if I am doing it right?"

" Victor and Nancy. . I don't know if what I did is right?? I know you didn't want me to h...had anything with them dad b..but I had no choice. .I. ." He cries softly,

" I think they are as hurt as myself. .I think they are bowed down by the weight of guilt a..and I know how bad that feels" " you told me dad.. no one d..deserve to bare guilt for all his life , no matter how bad they were.. right? "

" please forgive me mom, dad..I am so sorry if I wasn't the son that you wanted.. please don't give up on me ..watch me like you promised. .I love you so much. ."

.............................

He goes back to his old house for the first time since the day he knew his dad won't be ever coming home again..

Nothing had changed yet every thing is different .

He is so overwhelmed just by standing alone in the middle of the living room and looking to his dad empty coffee cup standing there on the table like nothing has been changed, like his dad will emerge from the room and pick up his cup to the kitchen ,telling Stiles to harry up or he will be late for school.

Stupid coffee cup..

Stupid coffee table. .

Stupid living room. .

He swaps the boxes that he came to take as he fights his tears. .

and swear to himself that he won't enter this house again..

..................

He is picking up his bag when Jackie knocks his door and grins at him , " someone is hear to see you " " who?!" He was just with the pack few hours ago so it was not like he was expecting anyone, " you'll better come and see" She says , so he follows her to the MCcalls living room, where they were staying, then he see him , sitting there looking oddly nervous and completely out of place, " Victor? !" "Hi..so, about the offer , the one that you mentioned in the restaurant ? Is it still standing? Can I go with you?" Stiles smiles, " I wouldn't have it any other way" ....................................

He is back to Chicago with a freind, a family and some old photo albums ....................................

Things are quiet again for a while till he gets an acceptance letter from Harverd ..

And he can't remeber being proud of himself in a very long time ,so he jumps around the huge palace effortlessly feeling for the first time that the palace is not that huge after all , "Nancy, Nancy" he calls ,

" Genim!! "

She appears from her room with annoyned expression that is rapidly replaced by her cold contained face,

" Why are you yelling like this ? have you lost your mind?"

" No , I didn't, I am sorry, it is just I am so excited to wait till dinner... so, I have to announce some good news "

She most be curious but she doesn't let it show,

" and what would that be ?"

He handles her the letter and she puts on her reading glasses, smiling slightly as she read what the letter says,

" Congratulations, Genim " She then smiles at him,

" Good work"

He shakes his head proudly and grins , then he frowns suddenly,

" Do you think my parents would've been proud of me?"

Nancy mimics the frown on his face then she nods slowly..

" really?!"

His eyes sprinkle with happiness,

" Every parents would've been proud to have a child like you".. and hearing this , from her, makes him blush profoundly and says nothing, because this is one of the moment where Nancy Grant surprises him by proving that she actually has a heart ,

" Can..can I hug you? " he asks nervously, not knowing if he is pushing his luck with this situation, but again, she does something quietly unexpected and hugs him without saying a single word.

And Stiles thinks that she only needs time , she is not a lost cause, she only needs time.

..............................

Days do what they do the best, they pass.. He will turn 18 in 5 days..

He will be a completely free man in 5 days..

And he is not happy or sad or anything! He doesn't know how to feel , Because he doesn't know what to do next with himself ? College won't start till 2 months , so where should he go ?

Should he leave the palace ? Of course, this whole custody thing workes till he is 18 then he had to take care of himself. .plus, he wanted to leave this place since the first day so what was there to think about?

Why does he even consider staying? But then where should he go?

Beacon hills?

He couldn't go back to his house. .

And the Maccalls, They doesn't need an extra mouth to feed.. But he had money .. The bank account that Victor made him , the money there can cover for his stay in a decent hotel or maybe even rent an apartment, In Beacon hills?

In Chicago?

He sighs desperately ,

There is a knock on his door and he easily recognises Jackie's rhythm, "Come in Jackie " She brings him a mug of green tee while she carries hers in the other hand and they sit in silence sipping their tea for a while, "What troubles you Stiles, what is wrong?"

"It is that obvious? .. ummmm, I'll turn 18 in five days"

" you are sad because you are turning 18? "

" I am supposed to know what to do with myself and all that I can be sure about it in this point of my life is the fact that I don't like the steak tartare ! How can I decide how my life is going to work? I mean I am just a kid!" "

"Stiles .. no matter how smart you are, no one can know how his life is going to work, Look at me, I am 62 , and life surprises me every day.. just relax and follow your heart honey ..you have a really good heart.."

" where should I go?"

" mmmmmm, I don't know, do you wanna stay here?"

" I. .God ..I don't know! ! " he screams in frustration,

" Stiles, the Grants would be very happy if you stayed till college "

"How do you know that ? Plus what if I don't wanna stay here?"

" if you don't want to stay , then it's up to you honey, but believe me when I tell you , this year was one of the happiest years that this palace has ever witnessed ..Mr.Grant is home more times than he had been in the last 5 years , and Mrs. Grant smiles again..you made them a family again" He frowns a little,

" but I miss Beacon hills, I miss my friends "

" honey , you can go back to your home town and see your freinds, what I am trying to say is that you will always going to have a place here "

She smiles warmly,

" by the way...did you know that Nancy's birthday is 3 days after yours?" " really? !" "Yeah. .really"

................................

He takes a deep breath, and mentally counts to 3 in his head before he knocks ,

" come in"

He hears the calm voice as he enters slowly, " Genim? What is going on ?"

"Umm, can I talk to you about something? "

" Yes of course, come on have a seat" He sits nervously,

" so , tomorrow I will turn 18" She nods quitly and a little disappointed expression spreads over her face,

he goes on, " and ..I booked a ticket to California the day after "

" oh , you did already? "

" I ..I think the earlier the better ..I mean one of my friends helped me to find a good apartment there, in Beacon hills, and I think I need to do this step for myself ..I need to make choices for my own"

"An apartment?I mean if you want to stay in California I can make some arrangements to find you a proper place , a decent house.."

" NO I don't want this, you are missing my point .. it is about me choosing and I don't need a house ..I'll be living alone and I don't need the big space.. I already saw the photos from advertisement, the apartment will be perfect "

She looks like she want to say something but she stops herself ,

So he speaks again,

"And.. There is another thing that I need to talk to you about , I know we dont speak about this subject but.. I am leaving soon and I think I should finally address the elephant in the room , it's something that I own it to both to myself and my parents. ."

" Genim. ." She shakes her head ,

"Please. .just listen to me"

His pleading eyes makes her listen,

" you need to know that my mom lived a happy life. .even when she got sick she had us , my dad and I , we loved her and we have never left her .."

" you need to know that she never hated you she just really missed you. . And maybe she felt guilty because of it , I think she wished that it didn't have to be like this.."

" Genim..enough. . .please stop" her tears are mixed with her smudged black mascara,

" She told stories .. about snow.. and wind ..and the palace were every thing was big and scary except for a small hidden room which was safe and warm..in that room the king and the queen took off their crowns and became like other people, and that was the only time that the little princess felt happy , and for her it was enough, because she always loved them, she was only sad that they were busy all the time that they didn't enjoy the beauty of life the way she always did.."

His tears fall lightly on his cheeks,

" You didn't know my dad because you didn't bother to do, and it's such a shame. .he was a good man..A great husband and an amazing dad.."

" Genim. .I. .I am sorry.." She sobs,

" I am sorry that I ignored my heart and listened only to my mind..I couldn't see..I couldn't believe I was mistaken..and I am sorry that I am too late.. I knew I was too late when I had a panic attack knowing that my daughter died .. I thought that when she got sick she is going to come home but she didn't. .and I lost her .. and since then I am just so scared to do anything else."

She shakes her head,

" I was afraid to face what I did..because I knew I couldn't fix it . ..but seeing you. .The amazing man you turned out to be. .I knew my daughter and her.. husband did a great job.."

" Nancy.."

"Genim. .you look like her..you smile like her ..you ..I thought I lost her till I found you"

" you look like mom too" he smiles in between tears , then he crosses the room and hugs her ..

They both cry..

Then Stiles wipes his eyes and takes something out of his bucket,

" I know your birthday is couple of days after mine so I brought you an early present "

It's a small family photo album that has pictures of his mom and dad before he was born and few pictures of his newborn self.

She goes through it carefully, studying every photo with all her senses ,

" Thank you so much "

" you are welcome "

.............................

Epilogue

He is waiting in the airport for Audrey ' s plane to land , and he feels both excited and nervous that his girlfriend is finally going to meet the pack.

When she comes out ,they kiss warmly before he takes her bags and leads her to his new Mercedes Benz car ,another gift from the Grants , "

so now we go to the Maccalls, right? "

" YES, Melissa's shift end in few hours which will give us the time to finish preparing every thing "

The pack was throwing a surprise birthday party for Melissa and she didn't even know that Stiles was back from school.

They reach the house to find that everyone else was already there,

" Every one, meet Audrey! !"

They take turns introducing themselves and asking her different questions, and Stiles can see that her witty personality pays no effort to click with them almost immediately.

It warms his heart..

Two hours later, Jackie looks from behind the curtains and announces that Melissa is here, so everyone takes his position,

"Surprise! !"

They call in one cheery voice once Melissa turns the lights on, and the look on her face is priceless,

" oh my god !!no you didn't " She laughs and happily cries a little.

They crowed her with their congratulations and their good wishes for her before Liam and Scott bring the giant cake the girls baked out of the kitchen,

" Happy birthday mama MCcall ! "

They smile, sing and dance..


End file.
